The redesigned Nissan Pathfinder SUV, which is produced at the automaker's Smyrna plant, is helping fuel sales growth for Nissan. / John A. Gillis / File / Gannett Tennessee

Written by

Dee-Ann Durbin

and Tom Krisher

Ford, Chrysler and Nissan each reported an 11 percent increase in sales for last month, a sign that U.S. auto sales will remain strong into the second half of the year.

At Nissan, which has its North American headquarters in Franklin, sales rose to just above 109,000, a July record for the company.

Sales of the Altima midsize car rose 11 percent, and sales of the redesigned Pathfinder SUV more than tripled. Both models are built at the company’s plant in Smyrna.

In addition, the Smyrna-built all-electric Leaf had another strong month, with sales of 1,864 units, a nearly fourfold increase over July 2012.

Of automakers reporting early Thursday, only Volkswagen had a down month. Its sales were off 3.3 percent as the top-selling Jetta compact faltered. Jetta sales dropped 1.8 percent.

However, the Tennessee-built Passat delivered an increase of 11.6 percent. Nearly 40 percent of the Passats sold in July were clean diesel models.

Chrysler, based in Auburn Hills, Mich., sold more than 140,000 cars and trucks last month, led by gains in pickup truck and SUV sales. It was Chrysler’s best July since 2006.

Ford sold nearly 194,000 vehicles, led by the F-Series pickup truck, with sales up 23 percent. One in three vehicles sold by Ford last month was a pickup. But the company was helped by the other end of its model lineup, too. Sales of the Fiesta subcompact rose 89 percent.

The reports kick off a day of sales tallies from the major automakers. Most industry analysts expect July sales to rise around 15 percent from a year ago. A performance that strong will signal that the industry’s momentum can carry through the second half of the year.

“We’re almost at a pre-recession pace that looks like it may have the momentum that will carry it through the second half of the year and beyond,” said Alec Gutierrez, senior market analyst for Kelley Blue Book.

The consulting firm LMC Automotive said the second-half tailwind could push this year’s sales to around 16 million. Sales last topped 16 million in 2007, just ahead of the recession. They bottomed out at a 30-year low of 10.4 million in 2009, and have been recovering ever since.

A combination of low interest rates, an improving economy, rising consumer confidence and increasing home values in many areas is driving sales. In addition, automakers have been rolling out appealing new products in every segment from subcompact cars to big pickup trucks.

Sales of pickup trucks are especially strong, which helps the Detroit automakers. Sales of compact and subcompact cars as well as compact crossover SUVs are expected to also show healthy gains, Gutierrez said. Total pickup truck sales could rise as much as 30 percent in July, he said. Edmunds.com says last month may have been the strongest July in seven years.

Incentives are helping sales. Incentives such as rebates and low-interest loans in July rose nearly 8 percent over a year ago to $2,684 per vehicle. That’s the highest level of the year, said Jesse Toprak, senior analyst for the TrueCar.com auto pricing site.

Overall, though, the discounts haven’t cut prices. The average sale price of a vehicle last month held steady at just over $31,000, Toprak said. That’s because buyers are loading up on options, which boosts the price.